India, Japan finalise pact for cooperation in 5G, AI

India and Japan have finalised an ambitious agreement that provides for cooperation in 5G technology, artificial intelligence and an array of other critical areas.
The agreement promotes cooperation in capacity building, research and development, security and resilience in the areas of Critical Information Infrastructure, 5G, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), among others.
The cooperation between India and Japan on 5G technology comes in the backdrop of growing reluctance by a significant number of countries globally to allow Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei to roll out 5G services in their territories.
The US has already banned Huawei over concerns of security, and it has been pressuring other countries to restrict the operations of the Chinese telecom major.
After a recent meeting between external affairs minister S Jaishankar and his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi in Tokyo, it was also announced that Japan agreed to be the lead partner in the connectivity pillar of the Indo-Pacific Oceans’ Initiative (IPOI).

The Indo-Pacific Oceans’ Initiative (IPOI) was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019 at the East Asia Summit held in Bangkok, Thailand.
The IPOI is aimed at making meaningful efforts to create a safe and secure maritime domain in the Indo-Pacific, a region where China has been expanding its military assertiveness triggering global concerns.
As an open global initiative, the IPOI draws on existing regional cooperation architecture and mechanisms to focus on seven central pillars conceived around Maritime Security; Maritime Ecology; Maritime Resources; Capacity Building and Resource Sharing; Disaster Risk Reduction and Management; Science, Technology and Academic Cooperation; and Trade Connectivity and Maritime Transport.

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